


Lacrimosa

by Sleigh



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Brothers, Character Death, Family Feels, Gen, The Future Past DLC, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-06
Updated: 2016-04-06
Packaged: 2018-05-31 13:58:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6472717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sleigh/pseuds/Sleigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When they're young, Owain makes a promise to always keep his brother happy and never let him cry. But as they grow up, there's much more to cry about than there is to be happy about. (Au where Lissabelle happened and Owain and Brady are brothers)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lacrimosa

“I’ll protect my big brother no matter what!” Owain stood on a hill, wooden sword raised skyward, on a muggy summer evening. “Brady! You are my blood, and I can never allow you to shed another tear! It’s my solemn promise that I will protect your happiness!”

Brady sniffled, sitting in the grass and clutching his badly scraped knee. “Yer embarrassing me!”

Owain didn’t seem to listen. He sprinted down the hill, then stopped abruptly at the large rock Brady had injured himself on. How dare it be laying around in the middle of a grassy field like that. They should be able to play in their own front yard in peace.

“Grahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Owain shouted, raising the sword above his head. “By the power of the gods, I shall vanquish thee to hell!” Owain started smacking the rock with his sword, over and over until the sword splintered and cracked.

Brady wiped the tears away from his face. He wanted to tell Owain to stop or that he was doing too much, but he was genuinely moved that Owain was going through so much effort in an attempt to protect him. 

Owain finally seemed satisfied once his sword literally fell apart in his hands. “Ha! Have you learned your lesson, fiend?” He shouted at the rock. “Next time I’ll be back with a real sword if you continue your nefarious ways!”

Now that Owain had exacted his revenge, he beamed at Brady as he walked over and helped him to his feet. “None shall harm you, as long as I’m at your side,” Owain said. “Let’s get home so Mother can heal you.”

\---

It was a kitten that set him off that day, the tiniest, cutest orange kitten he had ever seen. It mewled and nibbled on his finger, and immediately Brady burst into tears. It was too cute to handle.

Owain overheard his weeping from around the house. “Brady! Are you in danger? What fiend dares to attack the legendary Brady in his own home!”

But when Owain ran to his side, he saw nothing but the kitten, opening its mouth wide to let out a yawn. “L-Look at ‘im,” Brady cooed, wiping snot from his nose. “Look at his itty bitty nose.”

“You’re crying over a cat? I thought you were in real danger!” Owain looked disappointed. He flexed the fingers in his sword hand. “I was going to go up to those brigands and give them a real fight! I even thought of something cool to say: “Taste my steel, demonic hellbeast!” It would’ve been so cool.”

“Will ya shut up? I can’t hear his little meows,” Brady snapped, gently picking the kitten up and holding it at eye level. “His feet.. They’re so tiny…” His eyes welled up with tears again.  
Owain frowned, but crouched down next to him. He studied the cat for a moment before his frown broke into a smile. “You’re right, he’s cute. He deserves a name that matches his unbearable cuteness.”

“Aww c’mon, leave him out of your weird naming stuff,” Brady complained, leaning close to booping the kitten’s nose with his nose. “He’s perfect how he is.”

“Maybe so,” Owain said thoughtfully. “But I think he’d be cooler and stronger with the name… Lord Fluffmonster of the Coral Skies!”

Brady groaned. “I told ya he doesn’t need a name!” 

But for the few months the cat lived in their house, everyone called him Fluffmonster.

\---

At first, Brady’s violin playing had sounded like a cat being skinned. But that was years ago, and now he was so talented that he made the instrument sing.

Owain liked listening to his music. They both felt tense when their mothers were out fighting, but the music was relaxing. It gave them a place to pretend everything was okay and they had no worries. The house couldn’t feel empty and cold when it was filled with Brady’s warm music.

The notes floated up rapid scales as Brady warmed up. His bow moved slowly, but the notes came out quickly, his fingers racing from the bottom of the g string up to the very top of the e. 

Owain pretended to be napping on Brady’s bed, but he was listening closely. He heard when the notes were interrupted by a sudden loud snap.

“Brady?” Owain quickly sat up, just as Brady began to cry. A string dangled off the side of his instrument, and a bright red line cut his face from his forehead to his cheekbone.

“Gods! Is your eye okay?” Owain asked, prying the violin and bow from Brady’s hands and setting them off to the side. 

In response, Brady cried. “I’m fine,” He said, but he wasn’t very convincing. 

Owain took Brady’s cheeks in his hands and tried to get a closer look. “It looks deep,” Owain murmured. For just a little string of catgut, it had done some damage. “Hold on, I’ll get Ma.”

They were both tense after Owain said that. Owain froze on the spot, and Brady started crying harder. “She’s not here!” Blood started to ooze from the wound down Brady’s face.

“W-Well maybe I can…” Owain looked around. “I won’t let you suffer! I’ll figure something out!”

Owain hurried to the kitchen and grabbed a clean towel, then soaked it in water. He rung it out so it was cool but damp, then came back to Brady’s side. He dabbed away gently at the blood, but it didn’t do anything to help the cut. If nobody came some soon, it was going to scar.

“I’m sure they’ll be home soon,” Owain told Brady confidently. “Just hang in there.”

\---

It was a tuesday morning. The sky was full of dark clouds, and occasionally there were low rumbles of thunder. Both of them hardly recognized Frederick when he came to their door, but when he held out his hand, suddenly they realized something was wrong.

Two silver rings glistened in Frederick’s palm.

“I’m deeply sorry,” Frederick whispered. “I couldn’t protect them. I’ve failed, and now…”

Owain stared blankly at Frederick. “What are these? What’s going on?”

Brady instantly began to sob. He fell to his knees, covered his face with his hands, and he wailed.

“Brady!” Owain called out. “Brady, what’s wrong?”

Brady could barely choke out any words. His chest was heavy and tight and he felt like he could hardly breathe. “Mother and Ma are gone!”

Frederick stared down at the floor so neither boy could see his face. “They fought hard until the very end. They wanted… so badly to protect both of you.”

Owain looked bewildered. “But they’ll be back, right?”

Brady felt light-headed from crying so hard. He hugged his sides as he sobbed. He didn’t want this to be real. It didn’t even feel like it was real.

“They won’t be coming back.”

Owain hesitantly reached out and took both the rings into his hand. “They died? Like Uncle Chrom?”

Brady wanted to scream. Why didn’t he get it? Why was it so hard to understand?

“Yes.”

Owain swayed a little on the spot, staring off into space. He put one hand on Brady’s shoulder, either for support or comfort. He shook his head as tears sprung from his eyes, looking down at the rings in his hand. “S-So it’s… just the two of us?”

“Yes… I’m deeply sorry.”

\---

Most of the children had gathered together to fight, but even with all of them together they were still in constant danger. Somehow the risen always had them outnumbered.

They’d been ambushed today, and Brady didn’t even know where Owain was until he heard him cry out in pain.

“Owain! What happened?”

Owain stumbled back, his shirt stained with a long swath of red. He still held his sword up to the risen, but his arm shook and he was cringing. “I’m fine,” he called out, but then stumbled and fell to his knees while trying to dodge the next attack from the risen’s axe. 

If Noire hadn’t been there to shoot an arrow through the risen’s head, Owain would be dead.

“Like hell you are!” Brady shouted, running over to him. “Why’re you trying to fight like this? Yer gonna get killed! Idiot!” He was so angry but he couldn’t hold back his tears. They fell rapidly as he crouched next to Owain and healed the deep cut across his side. He’d lost a lot of blood and he’d need to rest.

“I was fine,” Owain said, but his face was pale and he was dripping with sweat. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Yes it was!” Brady couldn’t hold back. His tears fell freely, and no matter how much he tried to wipe them away, he couldn’t get rid of them all. “Dammit! You really scared me!”

“No! Don’t cry!” Owain leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Brady and pulling him into a tight hug. “I’m invincible, I won’t go down that easily! But… but I’ll be more careful, for you.”

“You’d better!” Brady buried his face in his brother’s shoulder and cried. He’d never felt so scared before. 

\---

They were surrounded and exhausted and everything looked grim, but Brady truly believed they’d make it out of this together. Then Inigo cut down the bridge with his brother on the other side, and Brady could barely breathe, much less think positively.

“Go deliver the gemstones,” Inigo shouted. “We’ll hold the risen off.”

“B-But… what will happen to you?” Yarne called out.

“We’ll be fine,” Inigo said with a smile. “We can handle this.”

Brady looked across the ravine at Owain, who looked back at him. “You promised you’d always make me happy, remember?” Brady called out. “So you’d better find me again in Ylisse, or I’ll never forgive you! Got it?”

Owain smiled. “I’ll never break my promise. I won’t leave now, I’ve still got to keep you happy for the rest of your life!”

Brady’s eyes stung with tears. “Idiot,” he muttered, staring hard at Owain, trying to memorize every detail of him. Just in case. “C’mon Yarne, we have to get to Ylisse.” 

“And just leave them there? But they’ll die!” Yarne was so anxious that seeing his anxiety made Brady feel even worse. 

“We’ll all die if we don’t go! Don’t you get it?” Brady said, tears falling down his cheeks. “If we don’t go now, all of us will die and we won’t be able to give Lucina the gemstones. I hate this more than anything, but there’s nothing else we can do.”

Yarne glanced back across the ravine, but then he nodded. “I… I understand.”

“Brady,” Owain called out again, and Brady looked back at him. “I love you!” Owain smiled as bright as the sun when he said it.

“Don’t talk like that, idiot!” Brady shouted, barely able to speak through his sobs. “Tell me when we get back home!”

Owain just kept smiling in response, and Brady stared at him for a long moment before taking off for Ylisse. Owain was never any good at keeping his promises.

\---

Brady’s home didn’t feel like somewhere he belonged anymore. So much had happened here and he had so many precious memories, but thinking of any of them felt like he was ringing out his own heart.

It had been empty for a while now, but it still looked pretty good. The china was still in the cabinets. The beds were still made. His violin still sat in a case in his old bedroom, but he was certain the lack of care had done some damage to it. 

He’d wanted to be a violinist for so long, but now it was hard to find the motivation to play. He used to play to see his mother’s eyes light up, to see his ma’s look of pride, to see Owain smile and hum along to everything he played.

But all of them were gone now.

He went outside into their yard, into the grassy fields that surrounded their house. It was early spring and the air was cool, and for the first time in ages the sky was bright and clear. They’d won, but they’d lost so much along the way that it didn’t feel like much of a victory.

He stared up at the sky as he walked and didn’t see a rock lying in the grass. He cursed as he tripped over it and stumbled to the ground. 

Brady stared at the rock for a moment. It was the one Owain had attacked all those years ago, the one he’d tried to beat to death with that stupid wooden sword. That was the day he promised he’d never let Brady cry another tear.

“I-Idiot…” Brady muttered as his eyes began to sting. “Why would you make a promise you knew you couldn’t keep?” He sniffed loudly and the tears began to pour down his face. He couldn’t stop them, but it didn’t matter. Nobody was around to see.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really upset because Minzy left 2ne1 so I channeled my angst into an angst fic... I wasn't going to post it, but I got such kind comments on my last FE fic that I really wanted to share another one with you!
> 
> I really like Lissabelle so I also really like Owain and Brady being brothers... I'll probably have them be family in any future fics too, haha. 
> 
> SORRY FOR THE SADS I'm also working on a happy Owainigo fic feat. Cynthia and Morgan, so hopefully I'll finish that up soon... thank you so much for reading, I hope to hear your thoughts!


End file.
